The former secretary of state stayed quiet about a potential 2016 presidential run in a speech Thursday, but did address the issue of America electing its first woman president, The Miami Herald reported

Receive the latest politics updates in your inbox

Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton spoke at a travel agents' convention at the Hyatt Regency Miami on Thursday. Above, she spoke at the American Bar Association's annual meeting Aug. 12 in San Francisco.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stayed quiet about a possible 2016 White House run during a Miami appearance Thursday – but she made a quick quip when asked what it would take for the country to elect its first woman president, The Miami Herald reported.

“Well, it’ll take a crazy person,” Clinton joked, getting laughs as she appeared before the American Society of Travel Agents’ global convention, the newspaper reported.

Biden, Clinton: Friends or Rivals in 2016

After seeing Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden at the Kennedy Center many are speculating about their political futures. NBC's Tracie Potts reports. (Published Wednesday, April 3, 2013)

Clinton said “I hope we break that final glass ceiling,” but said nothing about her plans.

Clinton’s address was not political per se, but it resembled an introductory campaign speech, the Herald reported. The Democrat would be a likely frontrunner if she joins the 2016 campaign.

“Compromise is not a dirty word,” Clinton said as she spoke about deals her husband, former President Bill Clinton, made with congressional Republicans to balance the budget and pass welfare reform in the 1990s. “Compromise is only a dirty word if you think you own all the truth. And that’s what I see in countries where people are punished and marginalized because of their race or their ethnicity or their tribe or their religion.”

Clinton, who served in the U.S. Senate and ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, spoke without notes at the Hyatt Regency Miami auditorium for about a half-hour before she answered some pre-screened questions from event moderator Nikki Grossman, the CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Herald said.

A colorful comment Grossman made as she gave Clinton a volleyball-sized glass globe caused Clinton to smile and blush, according to the Herald.

“In some cities you get a key to the city or a plaque. In Greater Fort Lauderdale, we have balls,” Grossman said. “And I don’t think there’s a person in this room, or perhaps in this world, who doesn’t think you do, too.”

The crowd responded with an explosion of laughter and applause, the Herald reported. Grossman continued about the glass globe, “However, this one is full of sand, shells and love from the people of Greater Fort Lauderdale and South Florida.”